There are some things that cannot be forecasted. There are others which can. And there are those things that defy the most accurate of predictions. I sit and wonder – will the future be the past or will it outshine all others? Challenges line up one after the other, seemingly daunting, occasionally herculean. Opportunities present themselves, bringing with them ideas and hope. There is a choice to be made. Either one can be swallowed by the challenges and be lost in their self-pity or one can seize the opportunities and bring forth the brightest and noblest in themselves.
Spring 2009 has been such a magical ride. I have worked with some of the most brilliant professors and interacted with very smart peers. I cannot say how fond I am of the iBike project – of the gargantuan nature of the research problem and of the influential impact that it will have throughout America. Professor Robert Hampshire is a genius who has the extraordinary ability to transform a complex real world problem like bike sharing into a system of mathematical equations. I still avidly remember the picture of him with John Nash when he was a student at Princeton. Working with him has been the opportunity of a lifetime.
I am equally fortunate to be working for the EmailBuddy project. Professor Laura Dabbish is a remarkable individual who can view a problem such as email overload through the lens of cognitive pyschology, visual interfaces and organizational behavior at the same time. Every single discussion that I have with her inspires me to generate more ideas.
It is sometimes really unbelievable when you are surrounded by extraordinary people all the time. More so when they are protective of you and give you a sense of belonging and warmth that can only be described as magical. Everywhere I go here in Carnegie Mellon, I am surrounded by people who make me feel cared for and I feel really happy. I am so proud of my friends Karen Mesko, Nolan Leavitt, Keith Clark, Shantnu Chandel and Vasundhara Garg. They are pristine blossoms, stellar symbols of all that is sparkling and admirable.
Spring is so beautiful.
